Homemade Chicken Nuggets

This is one of our families favorite meals!!!
4 Boneless skinless Chicken breasts
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I toast white bread and make my own crumbs its a lot better)
1 tsp poultry seasoning ( I just use any chicken rub)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter

Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces. Combine flour/crumbs, salt, pepper, and poutry seasoning in a large ziploc bag. In small bowl combine egg and milk, mix well. Dip chicken in the milk mixture.  Place a handful of chicken in the ziploc bag with the flour mixture and shake well. Continue until all the chicken is coated. Arrange in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet. Drizzle chicken with 1/4 cup melted butter and bake at 375 degrees F for 15 to 20 min until done.

Monday exchange

Our first freezer meal exchange will be Monday February 11th at 9pm. Let me know if you have questions.

Hot meal recipes

Ham and Cheese Sliders

Source: adapted slightly from the Recipe Club

Ingredients:

24 good white dinner rolls

24 pieces good honey ham
24 small slices Swiss cheese
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup miracle whip
Poppy seed sauce
1 Tablespoon poppyseeds
1 1/2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tablespoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Instructions:
In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and miracle whip. Spread onto both sides of the center of each roll. Place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss inside of each roll. Close rolls and place them into a large baking dish or heavy cookie sheet. Place very close together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches. You do not have to use all of the sauce! Just use enough to cover the tops. Let sit 10 minutes or until butter sets slightly. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes or until tops are slightly brown and crispy. Serve warm.

Note: Sandwiches can be assembled a day ahead and kept in the fridge ready to bake.

Hot Meal Recipes

Pasta E Fagioli

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, diced (1 cup)
3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
1 large carrot, julienned (1 cup)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5 oz. cans petite diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can pinto beans (Original recipe uses red kidney beans.  I don't like them personally, but you can use them if you like)
1 15 oz. can great northern beans
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
12 oz V8 juice
1 Tablespoon white or red wine vinegar
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon thyme
½ pound ditali pasta (little round circles)

Brown the beef, drain. Add onion, carrots, celery & garlic. Saute for 10 min. Add remaining ingredients except pasta and let simmer 1 hour. Cook the pasta until al dente (a little firm) and then add to soup 5-10 min. before serving. Can also add pasta to each individual bowl to preserve leftovers (pasta sucks up all the liquid if sits too long).
Serves about 8.(from Sowethinkwecancook.blogspot.com)

 
Guiltless Alfredo Sauce
Ingredients:
2 C low-fat milk
1/3 C (3 oz) low fat cream cheese
2-3 T flour
1 t salt
1 T butter
3 garlic cloves
1 C grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions:
Place milk, cream cheese, flour, and salt in a blender and blend until smooth.  In a non-stick sauce pan, melt butter on med-high heat and add garlic. Let the garlic saute for about 30 seconds, you don’t want to burn it.

Then add milk mixture to the pan. Stir constantly for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more. It should be much thicker now.

When it’s nice and thickened remove the pan from the heat. Add the cheese, stir it up and then cover immediately. Let stand for at least 10 minutes before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing. Season with additional salt if needed.  Also, if you have leftovers in the fridge, the sauce will thicken almost into a solid. Just re-heat and add a little milk and it will be back to normal again.(Ourbestbites.com)

White Chicken Chili

Recipe by Our Best Bites

I call this a chili, but it’s really a soup consistency.
If you want it thicker, just reduce the amount of broth.

1 T Extra virgin Olive Oil
1 lb boneless chicken, cubed (about 3-4 boneless, skinless breasts)
1 medium onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans Great Northern Beans
1 3.5 oz can green chilies
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t dried oregano leaves
1/2 t coriander
1/2 t salt
fresh cracked pepper
1 lime
1/2 C chopped cilantro

1 32oz box chicken broth

Condiments: (in addition to measurements above)
Sour cream
Chopped cilantro
Pepperjack or Jack cheese, shredded
Avocado
Tortilla Chips or make your own tortilla strips

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add chopped onion and cook for about 2 minutes- just until it starts to become translucent. While onions are cooking, drain beans and rinse with cold water and set aside. Sprinkle chopped chicken with a little salt and pepper and add to pot. Add garlic as well. Cook until there’s no more visible pink on the chicken, probably 3-4 minutes.

Then add green chills- along with all of the juices in the can. Add beans, cumin, oregano, coriander, salt, and a few turns of fresh cracked pepper. Stir to combine and then add chicken broth.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and add the juice from one lime and the 1/2 C chopped cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle into bowls and top with sour cream. Serve with condiments. If you don’t have all those condiments- at least have sour cream! But honestly, it’s best with everything :)

Makes about 8 cups of soup.

French Bread

2 1/2 C. Warm water

2 Tbl. Sugar

5 1/2. C Flour

2 Tbl. Yeast

2 tsp. Salt

Mix- Rise 15 min in bowl

Split into 2 loafs- Put on cookie sheet

Brush Tops with Egg white

Slit down diagonal 3 times on each loaf

Bake 400-425 degrees (depending on your oven)

For 15 minutes

So far this is what we have for Feb. Melissa Ellis is making Italian Cream Cheese Chicken, Kimberly Rivers is making Lasagna, Missy Fox is making Pulled Pork, and Amanda Wessman is making Manicotti. You can find the recipes in the Freezer Meal Recipe section when we post them.

The new Meadows Freezer Meal group

Yeah for our new group! You will find that by doing this freezer meal exchange you free up a lot of your time throughout the week. One day of cooking for 9 nights off! Please post your recipes here when you know what you are making for that month. If you are on this list we have put you in the group. If the month you are assigned to host don't work please trade with someone in the group. Also if you can't do the freezer meals one month find your own sub. This makes it easier on all of us. Message or email me your email addresses and I will attach you as publishers on this blog so that you can post whenever you want. I'm excited to get this going. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks